


Through the thick of it

by Thedarkslayer



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, I'll add more tags as needed, Multi, OT3, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, eventual OT3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-03 09:42:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14566290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thedarkslayer/pseuds/Thedarkslayer
Summary: Karen Page has a new girlfriend, but there's something...off about her. She always has new injuries, often looks suspiciously like she's been in a fight, she disappears at odd hours. Karen becomes more concerned when she finds her with a serious injury and calls Frank. Frank has settled down as Pete Castiglione, but Frank ends up dragged into a world he had no idea existed. He can't very well let Faith deal with this on her own, and neither will Karen.





	1. She talks to Angels

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I just binge watched Punisher and this is kinda what came out of that, I'm a crossover slut, I hope you like it, toss a comment down below if you do I'd love you hear from you guys <3

Karen paced nervously as she waited for Frank to show up. He already knew about her relationship with her girlfriend, but Frank hadn't really met her. She wasn't even sure how he felt about it. She and Frank had...she didn't know what they had. There was something between them, it didn't go away. He hadn't seemed mad, surprised definitely. 

Frank's form appeared walking towards her, as Karen stood across from the seedy motel Faith insisted on staying at. He frowned a little seeing the outright fear on her face. She launched herself at him and hugged him and for a moment he just held her stroking her hair. "Karen, what's going on?" 

"It's Faith...you remember when I told you she reminds me of you a little?" Karen drew in a breath as Frank nodded, actually quirking the smallest bit of a smile, "Not all of the similar traits are good, she's been showing up with cuts, bruises...I swear I saw a knife wound once, I think she might have broken some ribs but she wouldn't tell me...but this time...it's bad and she refuses to go to the hospital." 

Frank frowned and nodded slowly, "You know why?" 

"No, I have no idea," Karen frowned, "Can you please take a look at her?" 

Frank smoothed down her hair and nodded. If she was too bad he'd call Curtis, but hopefully, it was something he could field dress. He glanced around at the seedy area unable to stop himself from thinking neither woman should be there. It wasn't the best area of town, the motel looked like one that should charge by the hour. 

When Karen opened the door she immediately gasped, "Faith...What are you doing? Don't drink that it'll thin your blood more." 

Frank stepped in and saw an attractive brunette sitting on the edge of the bed, with a bottle of Jack to her lips. He blinked a little, he didn't know what he'd expected from a woman Karen would date but for some reason, this wasn't it. 

Jack Daniels, leather and the heavy smell of cigarettes in the room. There was a knife sitting on the nightstand next to her, and a few empty bottles of liquor and pack of Marlboros scattered about. A duffle bag that was shoved mostly under the bed, no doubt so she could easily pack up and leave. He couldn't help but think perhaps Karen had a type...and the type wasn't good for her. 

"Blood? There's not much of that in there, mostly just whiskey," Her eyes fell on Frank, regarding him with something he could only identify as suspicion. She was pale as if she'd lost a lot of blood, dark circles were under her eyes but she seemed to be handling it well. 

"Faith this is my friend P-..." she started to give Faith his fake name but she cut Karen off. 

"Anyone that's watched the news around here in the past couple months knows who he is," Faith commented. 

"Right...Faith, this is Frank...Frank this is Faith," Karen let out a bit of nervous laughter, "He's agreed to help." 

"Karen...I'm fine, I'm telling you it's nothing, I've had WAY worse," Faith insisted. 

Frank quirked an eyebrow, even he didn't believe her, "Karen's worrier, that's what she does, 'course, it doesn't help that she tends to surround herself with people that tend to do things to make her worry."

He took a few steps closer trying to figure out where she was injured, but he stopped when he saw her tense, her whiskey-colored eyes darting to him. 

"Faith...it's okay...you can trust him, Frank's a good guy," Karen told her reaching out to Faith and running a hand through her hair. 

"I'm just here to help," Frank added, he watched as it seemed to hurt her to breathe, "Show me." 

Faith's eyes darted up to Karen and then to Frank shifting to face him as she regarded him. She looked at Karen once more before standing up and tugging off her shirt. There was a blood-soaked bandage over a spot at her lower abdomen on the left side, immediately Frank wondered if it hit her kidney. 

"What happened?" Frank asked approaching slowly. 

Faith looked away immediately and shrugged sheepishly, "I got in a fight...you should see the other guys." 

As Frank looked her over, she didn't look like she was lying. Her knuckles were scraped up and swollen possibly broken, she had bruises littering her arms, there was one around her neck as if someone grabbed her. His eyes darkened as he moved to remove her bandage, "Looks like it was one hell of a fight..." his voice trailed off when he saw the round hole in her torso...an entry wound, he looked at her back and pulled off that bandage and found another hole, the exit wound, "What the hell?" 

"Karen get me a towel now," Frank said quickly as blood started to ooze out immediately, it wasn't long before he had a white motel towel in his hand, "You can't stitch that, might be able to cauterize it though, I think for now we can pack it with gauze and see how it heals on its own, the bandages will need to be changed frequently and you're gonna need antibiotics...what did this?...this ain't a bullet wound..."

Faith hesitated her jaw tightening a little, clearly very hesitant to say. Frank wasn't relenting though. Something was very clearly going on here. This wasn't just a simple fight, and she refused to go to a hospital to boot. She was doing something she shouldn't be. His dark eyes focused on hers not saying a word but he wasn't going to let this go. He kept the pressure on both the entry and exit wound, Karen was already collecting a bunch of gauze, she'd paused to look at Faith as well. 

"Rebar," she admitted after a moment of silence. She used that silence to come up with a plausible lie, one that was close enough to the truth to be semi-believable. The truth was far less believable.

Karen went pale and her hand went to her mouth, "You were impaled on Rebar? Faith what the HELL were you doing?" 

"Look I can't tell you everything, client confidentiality, and all that shit, the boss is a stickler about it, I tracked this dude for a client to a construction site, he was meeting up with a few other guys, they caught me there because part of the floor started to give, not so structurally sound, I was able to move before I fell but those guys jumped me, I fought them...was doin' pretty good until one of them kicked me through a hole in the floor, I fell a story down and landed on a peice of rebar, lucky me, it stopped me from cracking my head open on the floor, I had to rip myself off of it." 

It wasn't ALL a lie, they were demons...not guys...and Faith was caught because they SMELLED her, and she was lifted up and slammed in the rebar so they could get away. 

Karen's eyes grew and her hand was still pressed firmly against her mouth. One shaky hand handed Frank all the gauze she could find. Her eyes dragged over Faith again, the bruises, the cuts...she still felt like Faith should be in worse condition than she was. 

"This didn't happen tonight..." Frank said flatly now staring intently at her. 

"Two days ago..." Faith confirmed. It had happened 12 hours ago, she hadn't seen Karen for three days so it worked out. Her more superficial wounds had started healing already. 

"Faith you could have died," Karen breathed out her voice raising an octave, the concern laced in her words. Her eyes had started to water, Frank had just calmed down started a new life, but now she apparently had Faith to worry about too. She didn't know how she just sniffed out people like this. 

"Karen told me you were a PI, but I ain't seen a PI go through some shit like this," Frank said flatly. 

"Yeah well, we don't do the cheating spouses bit that most do, we take jobs no one else can," Faith told him honestly, some part of her wanted to tell him just to mind his damned business. However, another part of her could tell that she WAS his business, and she had been long before she came around. 

"What were you supposed to do when you got there?" Frank asked her. 

"Just watch and snap a few pictures of the people he met up with so we can figure out who they are," Faith replied. 

"How many were there?" Frank asked her, his voice sounding for all intents and purposes like he was interrogating her, while he worked on patching her up, "I need something to clean this with." 

Faith handed him the bottle she'd been drinking out of and he stared at her for a moment, "There were five, the guy I was trailing and four others." 

"This is gonna hurt like hell ya know?" Frank looked from her to the liquor in his hands, then paused, "Five?" he quirked an eyebrow. 

"Just do it," Faith said flatly, Karen had moved to her side now offering Faith her hand, but Faith shook her head, she'd shatter Karen's hand, "It's okay...definitely not the first time..." She only took Karen's hand to kiss it lightly before letting it go and gripping the bed. 

"Karen, keep the pressure on the wound for a minute," Frank said, making a note to question her further after he was done patching her up. He stood letting Karen take over as he grabbed two washcloths from the bathroom soaking both in liquor. 

"Faith, I really wish you would have told me you were doing something this dangerous," Karen said softly her trembling hands keeping the pressure on the wounds as instructed, "I don't even know how you can even function." 

"Wasn't supposed to tell you," Faith said flatly but offered her a small smile, "Liquor and sheer spite." 

She cracked the barest hint of a smile as Frank rejoined them, handing her back the bottle. Faith took it from him and finished the remaining amount. It wouldn't be enough to numb the pain. As a Slayer, she needed a lot more liquor than a normal person and considering the amount she drank, she had a high tolerance even for a Slayer. 

"Alright, Karen..." Frank told her and she moved the towels, "Faith, you ready?" 

"Just do it," Faith told him taking a deep breath and gripping the edge of the bed. 

Frank pressed the first rag to her wound, letting the liquid soak the area using it to wipe away the blood. She let out and cry of pain and she panted her head turning upwards to look at the ceiling as colorful curse words slipped from her lips. To her credit though...she didn't move, she didn't thrash around nor pull away from him. He packed that side with gauze, before moving to her back, repeating the action. This time she let out a strangled cry as he cleaned it he could feel her muscles trembling but even then she held relatively still. He packed that side as well then put a bandage on it, as Karen took it upon herself to bandage the opposite side. 

"Got an ace bandage?" Frank asked her. 

"Top drawer," She muttered still feeling heady from the pain. Karen was running her hand through her hair to soothe Faith as she tried to steady her breaths. 

Frank opened the drawer, and frowned a little finding a pointy wooden...stake? There were a few more items...another bottle of liquor, the motel bible, a sewing kit, he presumed she probably used to stitch herself up and the ace bandage. He plucked it out and used it to wrap up her entire torso firmly but lose enough to keep from constricting her breathing. 

"Faith...you said you fought off five men?" Frank arched an eyebrow, "Not exactly an everyday skill." 

"A shame isn't it? Should be..." Faith chuckled then winced in pain. 

"Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked her. 

"From a stuffy British woman that could kill a man wearing heels and a pencil skirt," Faith smiled fondly, but sadness soon touched her eyes. Diana Dormer was her first Watcher and the closest thing Faith ever had to a parent. She still had nightmares of Kakistos ripping her in half before her eyes. 

"She's dead..." Frank said gently, watching Faith for a moment, he knew that look, he knew it because he saw it in the mirror, "and you saw it didn't you?" He could tell whoever the woman was, they'd been close. 

She looked away from him but nodded slowly, swallowing a lump in her throat. He was observant, way too observant if you asked her. He was still looking at her like he was trying to piece her together, she knew he was missing far too many puzzle pieces for that though. 

"Sorry about yer loss," he told her with a certain sincerity in his voice that made her look back at him then lower her head. 

She shrugged a little, "It was a long time ago." 

"Doesn't make it hurt any less, Was she family?" Frank asked. He could tell he was pushing a few boundaries, she didn't talk about it. He could tell because of the way Karen was looking at her. Somewhere between sympathy and surprise. 

"...Closest thing I ever had to it," she muttered, then quickly rearranged her face into something more neutral, "Look I appreciate the help and all, but I'm fine, hazards of the job, I knew that when I took the job, it isn't the first or the last time I'll get hurt." 

Karen recognized immediately when Faith wasn't going to offer any more information. She did have to marvel at the way Frank handled Faith, patient, firm and honest. It was the way you had to be with her to make any headway and instinctively he seemed to know this, "Does your boss...um...Angel, you said his name was? Does he know you're hurt?" 

"Y'up, I mean I didn't tell him I was turned into a shishkabob but I told him I needed a day or two," Faith shrugged, "It's not like there's workman's comp." 

"Faith...is it legal?" Karen asked after a moment. 

"His business? Yeah, his clients are good people, we don't handle any that aren't, I can't say our methods are always legal, but ya do what ya gotta to help people," Faith shrugged, "Half the time that bastard doesn't even bother to ask them to pay," she rolled her eyes. 

"You're working for free?" Karen's eyebrows furrowed more. 

"Angel's got a problem asking people for money," Faith shrugged a little. 

Karen scrubbed a hand over her face and looked at Frank who was quietly taking this in. Karen paced the room a bit discreetly reaching out to palm one of the Angel Investigations business cards that lay on the table. 

"Not much of a businessman..." Frank commented. 

"Nah, he's not, he's just a bleeding heart with...not to go all Liam Neeson, but a bleeding heart with a particular set of skills," Faith chuckled lightly, though neither seemed to be amused. Frank had a pensive look on his face and Karen looked worried," Karen relax, I'll be fine, shit happens sometimes." 

"Yeah like....getting impaled on a piece of rebar is something that happens occasionally," Karen frowned with frustration. 

Faith sighed running her hands through her hair. She didn't know how she ended up in a relationship, to begin with, it didn't start that way but at some point...it became that way. She didn't DO relationships and this was one of the reasons why. Thankfully her phone rang and she quickly grabbed it off the dresser, "Yeah, Connor what's up?" she frowned a little as the boy didn't normally call her. 

"Whoa whoa whoa, what do you mean odd?" Faith frowned deeply, "Like...how odd?" 

Frank watched her intently as worry settled on to her face, and if he wasn't mistaken, fear came next. 

"Fuck...me...I hope you're wrong, maybe he's just grouchy?" Faith tried, "A girl can dream right? I'll be there in a few," she hung up the phone and stood up with a light groan drawing in a sharp breath as she pulled her shirt back on. 

"Faith...where are you going?" Karen demanded, "You need rest." 

"Angel's is havin' an issue and his kid needs help with it, no rest for the wicked," Faith muttered with a light shrug. 

"You can bleed out if you're up and moving around like that," Frank said flatly. 

"Whatever it is, he needs to deal with it himself, you already told him..." Karen started. 

"I know what I told him," Faith said firmly, "and if this was something he could deal with himself, I would let him, but he can't and neither can his son," she started putting on her boots, she grabbed her jacket then the wooden stake from the drawer, this time Frank openly giving the weapon an odd look, "They get passed metal detectors," she said with a shrug, but then grabbed the knife that lay on the top of the drawer and sheathed it at the small of her back. 

"What kind of issue with your boss needs weapons?" Frank asked crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes a little. 

"The kind where someone might need an ass-whoopin'," Faith grumbled really getting tired of the third degree. 

"Then let me help," Frank offered and Karen frowned a little. 

"Nope," she said tersely, she went to grab her keys but Frank moved faster and picked them up, holding them in his hand. She frowned deeply, and looked to Karen, "Get your friend before I whoop his ass, I got shit to do." 

Karen's eyes bounced between them, she didn't want to tell Faith that she wasn't too concerned about her hurting him. She wasn't even concerned that Frank would hurt Faith, she was more concerned Faith would hurt herself. She wasn't really sure if she should tell Frank to just let her go, or tell Faith to just lay down and get some rest and deal with whatever it was tomorrow. 

"If you've got shit to do, it'll go faster if you let me help you," Frank said flatly. 

Faith stepped closer to him, her eyes boring into him, "Karen..."

"Faith...maybe you could just wait and deal with it tomorrow...you drank a lot..." Karen noted. 

Faith sighed heavily scrubbing at her face, and with a sudden movement, her fist shot out like a snake striking its prey, striking him directly in the jaw. 

Frank was utterly surprised to find himself on the ground, her keys flying out of his hand. She grabbed them and stalked for the door. 

"God damn..." Frank muttered rubbing his jaw, and pushing himself to his feet, "She's a lot stronger than she looks."

Karen quickly moved to his side wincing at the swollen purplish lump quickly forming, "Frank I'm so sorry..." 

Frank grabbed his jaw and with a grunt and a sickening pop he put it back into place, opening and closing his mouth a few times to test it. He smiled a bit and put a hand on Karen's shoulder, "I see why you like her," he paused, "Karen go get some rest, I'll follow her, Do you know where she works?" 

Karen opened her hand and held out the business card she'd taken, first pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of it before giving it to him, "Frank you know you don't have to do this," she said quietly, "You don't even really know her." 

Frank leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, "If she's important to you, then she's important to me, I'll keep my distance, make sure she doesn't get hurt, if she doesn't need help, she'll never know I'm there."

Karen drew in a breath and nodded, "Please be careful, I can't deal with worrying about BOTH of you," she sighed flopping down on her bed, "I guess I'll head home, please, call me as soon as you know something." 

"Yeah, get outta this shit hole, you need to talk her out of it too," Frank looked around disdainfully, more worried something would happen to one of them there than about the actual quality of the motel. 

"I've tried, she said it reminds her of home," Karen shook her head, "Don't worry, I'm armed." 

"Good, I'll walk you to your car anyway, and give you a call later," Frank told her, holding the door open for her.


	2. Bullets for a Deadman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank follows Faith and is utterly shocked at what he finds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my first attempt at writing Frank, by the way, I'm still trying to learn his voice, I hope it's okay, I STILL suck at summaries just FYI thanks for reading it, please drop a comment below tell me what you think

The building Angel Investigations was in now, was an old small apartment building. It had six small apartments on the top floor, each barely more than a studio. The first floor and the basement were the gems of the building. It was a bargain because people had thought it was haunted, it turned out to be a raccoon in the walls. Angel would have much rathered a ghost, the raccoon turned out to be a pest, but he couldn't bring himself to kill it so he just had it removed and set free. Bleeding heart indeed...

The main lobby was actually rather large, it had a desk immediately facing the door, and two bookshelves on one wall, the other side had a set of small couches and a matching chair. Behind them was the door to the equally large basement that Angel turned into a training/weapons room. 

She pushed her way through the glass double doors and frowned a little she saw Gunn and Connor sitting at the front desk with a grim look on their face. 

"Where's Lorne?" She asked with a tired sigh. 

"He's in the basement talking to Angel...Angelus? Tryin' to get a read on him without agitating him, but Lorne thinks that one soul suckin' demon Angel killed last week fucked him up, damaged his soul, he's not too sure just yet though," Gunn told her crossing his arms. 

"So why are you guys leaving Lorne alone with an unstable Angel?" Faith demanded. 

"Lorne says we agitated him," Connor bit off and gestured for the basement, "They're down there." 

Faith huffed a little moving for the basement the door was partially open and as she moved closer she could hear Lorne's voice. 

"Easy big fella I'm just trying to help, just relax we're gonna fix this okay?" his voice was nervous, almost as if talking to an injured dog. 

When Faith moved down the stairs he found Lorne slowly backing up the stairs with his hands up at waist level. Angel's eyes immediately zeroed in on Faith's, she met Lorne halfway grabbing him by his colorful jacket and pulling him behind her nudging him up the stairs, "Get out, and lock the door behind you." 

"Hey Faith," his voice was soft like Angel's but there was a slight smirk that pulled at the corners of his mouth that she could definitely tell wasn't Angel's. 

She lowered herself down to sit on the stairs and started to reach into her pocket for a cigarette but frowned realizing she didn't grab them, "Don't suppose you got a cigarette handy?" 

Angel didn't smoke, Angelus, however, would on occasion. He regarded her for a moment before fishing in his pocket and producing a pack she was pretty sure had been hers, to begin with. He moved up the stairs and sat next to her, a single stair lower than her. He put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it and inhaled deeply before handing it to her. 

She took it from him and inhaled the much-needed nicotine. It calmed the very light shake to her hands and offered a slight heady feeling. It had been awhile since she had one, "How we gonna play this?" She asked him after a moment, handing him the cigarette back. 

"Faithy," he shifted to the side so he was leaning on one elbow to look at her, "I can still do what needs to be done, I just happen to have a much better personality," his voice was low, but carried notes of amusement in it, still he spoke as if they were having an intimate conversation, "Angel's a stick in the mud and Angelus...he's a psychopath...but me...I'm somewhere right in between." 

"Right in between Angel and Angelus is still pretty goddamned dangerous," Faith pointed out as he handed the cigarette back to her. 

He stared her down, keeping that same small smirk on his face, but his hand casually rested on her knee. He felt her tense up, and the smirk widened, "Can't get anything past you can I?" he said with a note of sarcasm, his fingertips drawing patterns up and down her legs, "If I remember correctly, Faithy," his voice lowered more leaned in closer to her, "You like dangerous," he muttered, "Gets you all...lubed up." 

Faith's face deadpanned and she caught his hand as he tried to slide it higher up her thigh. In one swift motion, she pivoted on the stairs, her opposite leg coming around to put a knee to his throat and pin him to the wall, "Angelus...Angel...who the fuck ever...don't fuck with me, you can either work with me or against me, but you're not gonna sit here and pretend to still be Angel and act like HIM at the same time, I don't got the time or the patience for your shit,"Faith tried to hide the cringe of pain as she was swiftly reminded of her injury. 

It wasn't lost on him, not even a little bit. He could even smell the blood, it was easy enough to tell where she was injured. For a moment he didn't move, just a moment, and then his hand gripped her ankle and he yanked down hard. Her knees came down painfully on the stairs now straddling him. She went to move immediately but his hand gripped her side and she froze his thumb lightly gripping her injury his fingers pressed flat against the wound on her back. 

"About that, Faithy," he chuckled softly, "You don't get to tell me what to do." 

She was frozen in place panting slightly in fear and pain. He did love the smell of fear on her. He pinched out the cigarette and flicking it away, before using his free hand to brush through her hair. He cupped her face to force her to look at him, "You know I always smell her on you, is she as pretty as she smells?" 

More fear crossed her face, but also anger, "Angelus I swear to God..." 

"Shhhh don't worry, I won't hurt her if you do exactly what I say," he tapped her nose lightly with his knuckle, pressing a bit on her wound. She sucked in a breath and squirmed, but froze again remembering she was on his lap now, when he grinned "You're going to tell them, I'm fine to go back to work, and I'm going to continue to do my job, but you're going to be a good friend and let me drink your blood and I won't hunt down that pretty little girlfriend of yours and rape her to death...how does that sound?" 

If Faith could have gotten paler she did as fear settled in the pit of her stomach... until the anger welled up in its place,"You son of a bitch," Faith growled her hands reached up to grip his coat and she pushed off the stairs with her feet knocking them both down the stairs, flipping them so Faith landed on top. She punched him square in the jaw, with wild repeated punches. Angelus's thumb directly into her wound put a stop to that quickly. 

She cried out in pain, the sound was music and the smell of blood became fresher. He flipped them over and pinned her down with a forearm to the throat, "You lost a lot of blood Faith, How did you think this was gonna go?" He dug his thumb into the hole in her side, ripping through the bandage and heedless of the gauze. This time Faith screamed and thrashed beneath him, but she was weak right now, "Oh keep wiggling that is SUCH a turn on," he dug his thumb deeper than pulled it out again, then stuck it back in, her cries of pain washed over him. 

Frank had been watching across the street with binoculars when she disappeared into another room that was when Frank decided he needed to go inside. Especially when another man left...what...the HELL was he wearing? Some kind of ridiculous costume. The man poured a drink and retreated up the stairs, even through all that makeup...he looked afraid. 

He couldn't keep an eye on her from there, he decided. She'd be pissed that was for sure, but if she was safe it didn't matter. They were a place of business, so Frank got out of his van and quickly strolled in, taking in his surroundings, "Hey, um, so...I heard you guys take jobs no one else does?" he asked casually. 

"That we do..." The dark-skinned man looked at him warily right off the bat, mistrust in his eyes, "Can I help you with somethin'?" 

"I don't know maybe, look man..." Frank was just playing this by ear, hoping to distract him long enough for Faith to come back up and him to physically see she was okay. He looked around as if nervous, checking out every corner of the lobby. "Look...someone's been following me, man..." he laid on the paranoia thick. 

"Have you gone to the police?" he asked pursing his lips. 

"The Police? Nah man, they're in on it, can't trust anyone, I don't even know if I can trust you guys, for all I know you could be workin' with THEM," Frank nearly rolled his eyes at his OWN ridiculousness. 

"Look, man, we can't really take your case if you haven't gone to the police first," He told him with a barely restrained tone of annoyance. 

He was about to lay it on a little thicker when he heard a muffled cry from the other side of the door. It was short and sharp and he froze staring at the door. Both the younger boy and the darker skinned man he was talking to looked at the door sideways but at first, didn't move. Not until the pained screams started. They didn't pay him a second look before both rushed to the door. The Darker one immediately tried to open the door but found it locked, then he slammed his foot into it. The metal door didn't budge for the likes of him. The smaller younger one tried as well, the frame trembled, but didn't budge either. 

"Shit he wasn't playin' about this door," the older on growled, "Fuck where's the key?" 

"My Dad has them..." the boy frowned staring at the door. 

She was still screaming and Frank was done waiting for them to figure it out, the boy went to kick it again and Frank said gruffly, "Move," they were surprised as if they forgot he was there. He drew his pistol from the holster hidden under his jacket and shot the lock, then kicked the door open. 

"...who the fuck is that guy?" 

Frank didn't wait for questions, he was moving swiftly down the stairs before they could stop him, he heard them calling behind him. As soon as he saw the man on top of Faith he didn't hesitate or call out to him, he leveled his gun at his head and squeezed the trigger. The bullet found it's home in the head of the man and he flopped to the side off of her. 

"Oh shit...man...get the fuck outta here...shit..." he heard from behind him. 

"Faith," Frank called out cautiously moving to her side. 

There were tears running down her face and she was extremely pale, blood flowed from her wound and her hands shook. He dropped next to her to lift her up but her eyes fell on him, "Frank...? What the hell are you doing...shit...Frank run..." she told him weakly. 

"Faith, take it easy he's dead," He said gently. 

"Well...you're not wrong...but see...I was dead before you got down here," the voice made Frank jump about ten feet back and aim his weapon at the man who'd stood up again...this time his face was twisted in some demonic looking visage. 

"What the fuck?" he muttered cocking the gun. 

"You're outta your league...Boy," Angelus taunted, before running at him. 

Frank reacted by dumping the rest of the clip in him, it didn't slow him and he'd nearly gotten a hold of him. Faith, however, forced herself to her feet and put herself in the way allowing him to collide with her. 

She was weak from the intense pain and blood loss and didn't have much of a plan aside from using her carcass to keep him from getting to Frank. He hit her with enough force to knock her into Frank and tackle them both to the ground. Frank grumbled curses under her breath, but he was soon yanked off of them. 

"Oh no you don't," the younger boy commented yanking him back roughly and decking him. 

"Connor...you've been a very bad boy," he growled out. 

Frank could hardly believe he was still moving as if the bullets had no effect. The two men seemed to know what they were doing, so he moved to help Faith to her feet. He wanted answers but he knew it wasn't the time, especially since Faith was trying to move towards the fight. 

"Ya gonna just bleed on him?" Frank said gruffly. 

"Fuck you," Faith snapped immediately, Frank had her by the elbow to steady her and he could still feel her muscles trembling. 

Frank cursed seeing the older dark-skinned male was down for the count, and he let Faith go to help the boy. He seemed to be fairing better, but it looked to Frank that he was being toyed with, "Connor, it wasn't what it looked like, me and Faith, we were having a conversation, I was trying to make a point, and it got a little out of hand, and then I got shot...I'm sure you can understand why bullets would make me a little testy Son." 

"Really? Testy? Is that all?" Connor rolled his eyes ducking a punch and catching Angel...Angelus? In the jaw, "I'm sure, that's all this is...just a bad mood?" 

"Just going through something...wouldn't be the first time..." he replied kicking the back of Connor's knee. Angel was caught completely off guard when he was grabbed from behind and an intense sharp pain shot from his neck and through his body, it was quick and short and suddenly his body refused to respond to him anymore, ".....what...the hell?" it took him a moment to realize that his neck had been broken, "You son of a bitch!" 

"Holy shit..." Connor frowned pushing himself back to his feet to look down at his father, "Wow...that's...huh...never really thought about that..." Connor looked back up in shock at the man now standing in his place, "You just...snuck up on him and broke his neck..." 

"Why the fuck is he still alive?" 

"...Who the hell is he?" Angel snarled from the floor but he couldn't do much else. 

Even Faith looked a bit surprised, her eyes flicked from Frank to Angel and back again several times. It occurred to her had Angel been human, Frank would have killed him with little thought, the first shot would have killed him. A human snuck up on a vampire and snapped his neck. A HUMAN snuck up on ANGEL and snapped his neck. It was hard for her to process that. 

"Just...take him upstairs to the room in the back and chain him up good, just in case...I'll..." she gestured between Frank and Gunn tiredly. 

Frank had already moved towards the other man to check his pulse. It was beating strong he was just out cold, "He's alive, probably want to check him for brain damage when he gets up," He was still trying to process this, none of this made sense. 

"Frank...why did you follow me?" Faith asked once Connor lifted Angel over his shoulder and started up the stairs with him. 

"Just in case somethin' like this happened," Frank responded crossing his arms and staring at her intently. 

"Yeah...um...about THIS...it's a long story..." Faith started. 

"A long story?" his eyebrows shot up, "I just shot him in the head, I emptied a clip into him, 9 bullets...and he was STILL comin' at me like they never touched him, I broke his fuckin' neck! and he's STILL talkin', I think I need to hear this long story." 

Faith sighed heavily and scrubbed her face, for a moment staring up the stairs thinking they should go upstairs for the conversation, but she shifted her weight and pain erupted from her wound and spread all the way to her fingers and toes. She hissed in pain and stood still. 

Frank sighed and moved back to her side putting an arm around her waist to guide her to a chair. He considered picking her up, but he got the sense that she was stubborn enough to want to walk herself. He waited until she lowered herself into the chair to drop down to look at the damage that was done to her wound, "Start talkin'," he said gruffly. 

He was surprised when she jerked away from him she nearly fell from her chair but his hand shot out and caught her arm and pulled her back onto it, "Easy Girl," he said softly, "Look yer bleedin' again, he did more damage, I got to stop the bleeding." 

Faith shook her had, the fear clear in her eyes, "Don't," she said simply. 

It occurred to him that whatever just happened between Faith and the one he assumed was her boss, Angel, had scared the hell out of her. He was concerned about the blood loss but he wasn't ready to force her into letting him treat it just yet, "How about you tell me what's goin' on Faith?" 

She took a few deep breaths he noted her hands still trembled as she ran them through her hair, "It's a long story, I can give you the quick and dirty version, Angel is a vampire, I'm a vampire slayer and he's normally one of two good vampires, good meaning that the two have souls and the rest don't, right now, there's something wrong with Angel's soul, when he loses his soul he reverts to who he used to be, Angelus, one of the most vicious vampires that ever lived and right now he's kind of like Jekyll and Hyde." 

Frank stared at her in disbelief, he'd seen that contorted inhuman face, but it was so hard for him to process what she'd just told him. It wasn't...logical. Yet, here they were. He tried to search her face for any sign that she was somehow screwing with him, but it didn't seem to be the case. 

"I get it, sounds nuts, gimme a second I'll take you up to see him, you can get a closer look," Faith muttered. 

"No, You need to lay down and we need to stop the bleeding," Frank said firmly. 

She tenses and shook her head and muttered, "I heal fast."

Frank stood up and sighed pacing a bit before pulling out his phone and shooting a quick message to Karen. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket, "Let me at least get you upstairs," Frank told her. 

She pushed herself to her feet and gritted her teeth against the pain, she squeezed her eyes shut as tears sprang to her eyes. Frank immediately moved to her side and picked her up bridal style. 

"No I can walk," she muttered struggling with him. 

"Cut that shit out, maybe you can walk but I don't got all day to wait for you to make it up the stair," Frank said firmly. 

She let out a breath and settled a bit not fully relaxing. She gritted her teeth against the pain as he quickly carried her up the stairs as to not prolong it. He laid her on the couch in the lobby, "Just...rest here for a minute, don't go anywhere," he said firmly. 

"Gunn," she muttered trying to sit up. 

"What about it?" he paused as he'd started to head back into the basement to retrieve the other man. 

"Not it, HIM," she sighed flopping back onto her back when the pain was too much.

"The man in the basement, his name is Gunn?" Frank asked, "I got him." 

Gunn was already getting up slowly when Frank got down there, but he did offer him a hand up. Gunn eyed him suspiciously, but he was still a little dizzy. He waved Frank off and made his way slowly towards the stairs. 

"Where's Angelus?" he asked. 

"The Kid took him upstairs," Frank replied. 

He nodded working his way up the stairs, "Faith?" 

"She's laying on the couch in the Lobby," 

"Okay..." he nodded reentering the lobby he moved to the couches and flopped himself across from Faith, "One more question...who the fuck are you?" 

"Gunn this is..." Faith started once more trying to pull herself up into a sitting position, this time she was more successful but she gasped as the pain radiated from her wound once more. 

"Pete Castiglione, I'm a friend," he said after a moment. 

Faith had called him as soon as she saw him, but if they didn't recognize him there was no point in telling them. Apparently, not everyone could recognize him. 

"Faith we need to stop the bleeding now," Frank insisted. 

"I'm fine..." Faith said tersely. 

"I'm not asking anymore, you're gonna bleed out," Frank started to move towards her but the door opened behind them. 

"Man, we're closed," Gunn called out. 

"Fra..." the words started, "Oh my god Faith..." 

Karen's voice made Faith's head turn sharply and the blonde closed the space between them quickly, her arms wrapping around Faith. 

"What's going on? He didn't tell me he just..." her voice trailed off. 

"It's a long story...." Faith muttered slumping into her embrace. 


	3. Sins of an Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank and Karen learn just how deep the rabbit hole goes

_but you're going to be a good friend and let me drink your blood and I won't hunt down that pretty little girlfriend of yours and rape her to death...how does that sound?'_

Faith was nearly unconscious from the sheer pain. Karen ran her fingers through Faith's hair soothingly as Frank cleaned and redressed the wound. Cleaning it had been the hardest part. Charles Gunn and the boy, Connor had to hold her down. Karen was in tears hearing her shouts of pain, even with the cloth she bit down on. At least she let him redress it with Karen there. 

They'd taken her to one of the rooms on the second floor. She lay slumped over with her head in Karen's lap as Connor and Gunn tried to explain the situation the best they could. What really made it hit home for both of them, was the green man. He now wore a robe and had a drink in his hand. 

"Aww Kitten," He shook his head sympathetically at her. 

Karen stared in shock her eyes studying him, and for a second the green man stared back silently with his red eyes squinted just a bit. 

"I see why she likes you," he said after a moment, "Call me Lorne." 

_but you're going to be a good friend and let me drink your blood and I won't hunt down that pretty little girlfriend of yours and rape her to death...how does that sound?_

Faith came too with a start sitting up and gasping, it was probably the pain that made her wheeze as if she couldn't breathe. "Oh God, Karen...no no no you can't be here, you've got to go, you've got to...Where's Angelus?" Faith's eyes darted around wildly her hand frantically grabbed for her knife that was usually at the small of her back but it had been removed...just in case. 

"Hey...easy Faith, we got Angelus, everything's okay we've been filling in the details..." Gunn said carefully, "We got this girl...you just work on healin' up." 

"No, no, you don't understand," She was struggling to get up now even when Frank put a firm hand on her shoulder to hold her down. 

"Faith...just...take it easy, it's okay, It's unbelievably weird but it's okay," Karen tried to reassure her, even if she was skeptical, her mind was automatically searching for a more rational explanation. 

Frank could barely hold her down, they'd already informed him, if she wasn't so weak, she'd probably have thrown him across the room. 

"No, you don't..." Faith insisted. 

Lorne frowned, she didn't have to sing for him to read her. Right now, she was an open book. The horror floated over his face and he took a long drink, "Hey there...tall dark and muscles can I talk to you for a minute?" 

Frank gave him an odd look, waiting only until Faith stopped struggling with him to let her go. Karen helped her into a sitting position, "Just take it easy, it's okay, Maybe I can see if I can get you something for the pain," Karen told her pressing her lips to Faith's temple. 

Lorne stepped outside with Frank, "Look...did she...tell you anything about Angelus?" 

Frank pushed the door closed and crossed his arms, "He was her boss, Angel, I'm gathering the Angelus is...the evil version..." he quirked his eyebrow as he felt it was more complicated than that. 

"Calling Angelus evil is like...saying...Beethoven played a little piano. If evil was an art, Angelus is it's DaVinci," Lorne all but scoffed the concern and fear written on his face, "Look, she's scared that he's going to hurt, that lovely young woman and...rightly so...after a few choice words Angelus had with her." 

"...how do you...?" Frank started. 

"I'm an empath and she's broadcasting her feelings like casino signs in Vegas let me tell you," Lorne gestured for Frank to follow him downstairs. 

"What did he say?" Frank demanded following behind The Host. 

"Look...just...know she needs to be far away from here okay?" Lorne gulped down the rest of his drink as the returned to the first floor. 

"What did he say?" Frank repeated more firmly. 

Lorne was running his fingers over spines of books on the shelf before he pulled one out, "The first thing you need to understand is Angel is like a brother to Faith, he's not just her boss, Faith trusts him with her life, and that woman...she doesn't trust anyone, Angelus, however, is a nightmare," he handed him the book, "I'd skim over a few pages, get an idea of what you're dealing with." 

The book was old, the pages were yellowed, it wasn't written in English but someone had gone through and wrote translations down, "Nails puppy to a..." his voice trailed off and he looked up at Lorne, "What is this shit?" flipping through a few more pages and skimming over them. 

"That's Angelus, and your friend is in danger," Lorne told him. 

"He can't move, I broke his neck, if it heals break his neck again," Frank shrugged a little, "Or...better yet...kill him." 

"It's not quite that simple, sugar puff, Angel is a good man, the exact opposite of what's sitting in there...well...kinda I'm a little shaky on just who that is up there," Lorne paused, "His soul is there...it's just, damaged." 

"Look, if he's such a good person, wouldn't he want you to kill him?" Frank asked setting the book aside deciding he'd read enough. 

"Look Angel is a champion for The Powers that Be, more importantly, Faith won't let you kill him," Lorne sighed. 

"You said Karen was in danger," he said flatly. 

"Yeah, he may have made a threat to her person that has really gotten under Faith's skin and it's for good reason, the best thing you can do, is take that endearingly lovely woman and grab the first bus out of this town until we get this thing sorted out," Lorne told him lowly. 

"Run?" he arched an eyebrow, "Karen won't do that." 

"Maybe if you told her that he's going to rape her to death, that might change her mind," Lorne shook his head, "Look Puddin' Pop, this ain't no joke, Angelus is as dangerous and sadistic as Angel is brave and heroic." 

Frank froze and stared at Lorne for a moment, and without a word, he was stalking up the stairs with a purpose. 

"Oh...crap...no no no no...Buddy...Pal? Hey, wait!" Lorne rushed to try and catch him. 

Gunn emerged from the room, a concerned looking Karen in the doorway, "Lorne...What's going on?" 

"He's gonna kill Angel someone stop him," Lorne said quickly. 

"Frank!" Karen called after him. 

Faith was up rather swiftly blood loss be damned. She met Frank at the door of the room Angelus was in, the only one with the light on. 

"Frank...I thought his name was Pete?" Gunn frowned. 

Karen hesitated and muttered, "It is." 

Gunn gestured with his hands but decided to deal with that in a minute. 

"Back off," Faith told him firmly gripping his arm tightly. 

He went to jerk away but was surprised when he grip didn't budge, he looked from her hand up to her eyes and back again several times before speaking, "You're just gonna leave him alive? Leave Karen in danger like that? That's reckless, you're tellin' me you kill these things for a livin' and you're gonna leave this one alive because he's your friend sometimes even though he raped and slaughtered his way through Europe way back when?" 

Faith's eyes turned sharply to Lorne who winced, "Well, I figured he should know what he was getting into, I knew his reaction might be strong but..." 

"He's not that monster anymore," Faith said sharply, "It's way more complicated than that, look I don't walk up in your shit and tell you how to off criminals don't walk up in my shit and tell me how to off vamps." 

"I would have been MORE than happy to leave you to deal with this shit up until the point where he threatened Karen and you didn't do SHIT about it!" Frank countered still pulling away from her but she still held fast tugging him back and placing herself in front of the door. 

"Wait...what's going on?" Karen asked frowning. 

"Look we're gonna get Angel back, that is doing something about it," Gunn tried to interject. 

"For what? So this can happen again? How many more innocent people have to die every time he has a goddamned mood swing?" Frank demanded. 

"Now I find that to be offensive," Angel's voice chimed through the room dripping with an Angelus like sarcasm. 

"Angel shut up," Faith said flatly. 

"Yes dear..." he replied his head lulling to the side awkwardly from his spot on the bed. He was chained down to it in a manner that looked excessive...it certainly wasn't. 

"Angel is a good person, Angelus is a monster, I OWE Angel...so much, I'm not going to let you kill him," Faith said firmly, he wasn't sure if Frank knew how to kill him but she certainly wouldn't put it past him to figure it out. 

After a long moment of silence, Connor spoke, "If we can't figure out how to fix this, then we'll kill him, but he's MY father and if anyone is going to kill him, it'll be me," his tone was so much like Angel's it was startling. It was firm and decisive and the look on his face matched. 

Frank stared at him for a long time, the statement was fair enough, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. After a moment he stared at Faith, "If anything happens to Karen because of this...that's on you." 

"Frank...that's not fair," Karen said after a moment. 

"No, he's right, take her and go somewhere with her," Faith said quietly, "I've gotten enough people killed." 

"I'm not _going_ anywhere," Karen frowned deeply. 

Faith was limping back towards the stairs, clutching at her wound the adrenaline now subsiding reminding her of the pain and exhaustion. 

"I'm not going..." Karen repeated glaring at Frank and then at Faith's back. 

Frank was quiet now, perhaps the statement he'd made was a bit harsh. He knew Karen, Karen wouldn't back away from this. She didn't back down from anything. As long as she was in danger he wasn't going anywhere, "Yeah...I know..." his eyes followed Faith for a moment. 

"I'll get her," Karen said flicking her eyes to the younger boy, Connor as he pulled the door to Angelus's room shut. 

"No one goes in there for any reason alone," Connor said firmly, then glanced at Frank, "You and her, don't go in there without one of us who's familiar with him." 

"I don't plan on going in there at all if I can help it," Karen muttered, the entire situation freaked her out a little, even if she was admittedly curious. 

"Probably the best idea," Gunn nodded. 

She followed quickly behind Faith, who was stumbling over some of the stairs. She looped her arm around her waist, "Hey, Where are you going?" she held her still and steady and shifted her body to face her. 

"I need to get somethings from my motel room," she muttered. 

"Yeah...okay, you're not doing that right now, I can go myself, please lay down and get some rest okay?" Karen insisted. 

Faith sighed heavily and relented, she was exhausted. She allowed Karen to lead her back upstairs and to a bed. Taking off her shoes and tucking her in. Before she closed the door and left her to rest. 

"I'm gonna go get Faith's stuff from her motel room," Karen told Frank. 

Of course Frank insisted that he go with her. She needed a little time to process everything that had gone on. She was sure Frank probably did too.


End file.
